Parallel Memory

"Saintess, I don't think we can win this fight! Saintess, it is better if you escape."

Adeline asked again. She is extremely worried and knows that healing so many Holy Knights was exhausting the Saintess. If she stopped healing, their army would all lose.

However, Adeline was more concerned about her safety than the Holy Knights. She felt that the Saintess could still escape, otherwise, she could even lose the chance to escape after Zain was defeated.

"No, I will not go!"

The Saintess was very adamant. Even when her death was so near, she had no plan to run away by herself.

"Hah!"

Adeline was getting very worried about Rank-S being so close. It was a matter of time before he reached them.

Adeline admired Saintess Amelia for her bravery and selflessness, but she couldn't bear the thought of losing her. She knew that if they didn't act fast, they would be overpowered and defeated.

"Saintess, please reconsider! Your safety is important too. You need to stay alive to lead humanity in the future."

Adeline pleaded. But Saintess Amelia remained resolute.

"I cannot abandon my duty and my people. I will fight until the end."

Adeline nodded, knowing that it was useless to argue further. Instead, she focused on the approaching enemy and readied herself for the impending battle.

Kurtis and Zain were fighting. Adeline knew that if Zain were to be defeated, then there was no chance of survival. She had to go help him for the sake of the Saintess.

However, she was also afraid that someone would sneak attack the Saintess. She was the last line of defense. If she was gone, the Saintess wouldn't have any guards. Adeline looked around the surroundings to see whether there was any enemy.

"Go! I don't think that there are any enemies approaching right now!"

Having a clear understanding of Adeline's thoughts, Saintess Amelia said. She could also see that Zain would lose to Kurtis. And with him gone, she would die.

While she didn't want to sound arrogant, she knew that without her, the rest of the Holy Knights wouldn't survive. Therefore, she had let go of Adeline and had her support for Zain.

As for the assassination attempts, she was not someone that would easily die. Despite looking fragile, she was after all Rank-A and even though she excels at healing, she also has some defense skills.

Adeline nodded.

At the moment, Zain and Kurtis were clashing over their most powerful techniques. Adeline couldn't interfere as she would get injured as a result. She waited for the moment when their clash ended.

Right after that, Kurtis lost in their clash, however, Zain had lost every bit of power and was powerless. At that moment, Kurtis swung his spear and tried to decapitate him.

-CLANK!

Adeline used her rapier to deflect Kurtis' spear.

"Huh?"

Kurtis was surprised.

"Zain, go and protect Saintess. I would fight him instead."

Adeline said not taking her eyes off Kurtis.

Zain, who thought his life was over, understood that he had been saved. He nodded his head and retreated with his subordinates. They were powerless against Kurtis, however, they could still protect Saintess by sacrificing their lives if needed.

"Haha… First, it was three knights and now, even a little girl wants to challenge me? Has the Saintess run out of men?"

Kurtis said. He was certainly finding the situation funny as Adeline half his size stood in his way. However, he was also not underestimating her as his attack was deflected by her.

"..."

Adeline didn't say anything and focused on him. She knew that she can't afford to be distracted. If he made it past her, the Saintess would die. She needed to be very careful.

Kurtis again made his move. He swung his spear. This time it was harder than before. He wanted to see whether what Adeline did was a fluke or whether she was really that strong.

-CLANG! -CLANG! -CLANK!

Adeline parried each of his attacks with precise movements, her rapier glinting in the sunlight. She was faster and more agile than Kurtis had anticipated.

As the battle wore on, Kurtis grew more and more excited and his hit was also hitting heavier and heavier.

Meanwhile, Saintess Amelia watched the battle from a distance, her heart racing with worry for her companions. Adeline's enemy is too strong and she knew that Adeline was risking her life for her.

The situation was as it was, and not just for Adeline, other people were in the same boat. Holy Knights were risking their lives and fighting with other Devil Contractors.

"Sorry, Saintess! We failed!"

Zain apologized along with Kaiyo and Minho. They were ashamed to show their face to Saintess, however, they needed to be there in order to protect her.

"Don't worry! You did your best. Take this time to recover."

Saintess Amelia said. After that, she healed them of their injuries, though it didn't mean that they had recovered their strength.

-CLANK! -CLANK!

"Argh!"

Adeline still managed to parry Kurtis's attack, however, she was struggling and her hand hurt. The attack only got stronger and Adeline couldn't just focus on defense.

Her strategy was to buy as much time as possible by only defending, but it looks like she would be defeated if she only focused on defense.

-WHOOSH!

Adeline disappeared from Kurtis' sight and reappeared behind him. Adeline used her rapier and struck his neck.

-CLANK!

However, Kurtis was able to block it with his spear. Moreover, now she was in a vulnerable position. Kurtis swung his spear hard and flunk Adeline to the ground.

-THUD!

"Pui!"

Adeline ended up vomiting blood. Although she was injured, there was no time to cry. When Kurtis attacked her, she quickly got up and dodged his incoming attacks.

[ "Luminescent Aurorisea" ]

Saintess Amelia immediately healed Adeline who had been injured. If Adeline had fought in her injured state, she could have easily been killed by the Rank-S Devil Contractor.

-CLANG! -CLANG!

Adeline attacked once more and it was easily blocked by Kurtis. In terms of strength, Adeline knew that she could not compete with Rank-S Devil Contractor. However, even when trying to use speed and overwhelm him with her speed, she was not able to.

Kurtis was better than Adeline in every way. The only thing that was helping her was that Saintess was helping her which allowed her to last more than she could.

"Hah… Hah… "

Even so, Saintess could not eliminate the exhaustion that she felt. She had to be 100% active and had to use all her power in order to just survive against Kurtis. Even if her injuries were healed, it could not stop her from the exhaustion of facing the S-Rank Devil Contractor.

"It seems that you have reached your limit. It was a good fight but you couldn't possibly win against me!"

Kurtis said. It was true that Adeline had no chance. She was much stronger than an average Rank-A + being able to fight with him for so long. However, she could not win no matter how much she tried as she didn't have the necessary power.

[ "Diabolic Skewer" ]

Kurtis used one of his skills. While not as strong as his Demonic Impale, it was still a very powerful technique that could easily annihilate a rank-A person.

Adeline held her rapier stronger. Even if she were to die, she refused to give up. Even though she knew that she could not win against that power, she still wanted to give her all. Moreover, she could not fail.

In the event that she fails, the Saintess would be killed next.

[ "Épée de Lumière" ]

The bright light emitted from her sword as it contained holy power. She used every bit of mana she could muster. One side was dark and sinister and another attack was bright and holy.

-BOOM!

"ARGHHH!"

However, there was no need to wait for the result as Adeline was flung back with a big cut on her abdomen. She could no longer feel her body and seemed to be sinking into darkness.

"Adeline! Adeline!"

[ "Luminescent Aurorisea" ]

"Adeline! Adeline! Wake up!"

Saintess Amelia who was witnessing all this shouted and tried to heal Adeline. However, even if her injuries were closed, Adeline was in no state to stand up.

"Impressive! You managed to stay alive even after getting hit by a Diabolic Skewer!"

Kurtis said as he closed the distance. He was telling the truth as he had not expected her body to be intact much less for her to still be breathing. However, he has to complete his job by killing her once and for all.

-THUD!

Saintess Amelia tried to come down and help Adeline. However, unexpectedly she fell down. Saintess Amelia had already gone beyond her limits by healing so many Holy Knights. There was nothing left inside her and that was the reason that she fell down when trying to go and help Adeline.

"No!"

Saintess Amelia shouted as she saw Kurtis dealing his final blow to Adeline. She felt very powerless, the same she felt when Rank-S Devil had ambushed her team years ago. It was a repeat of the same scenario.

[ "Diabolic Skewer" ]

-SHIIIING!

However, before he could launch his attack, he was frozen on the spot. The attack had been too quick for him to notice or to react. Before he could sense the attack, he had been frozen.

Saintess Amelia and Zain were surprised for a moment. And then relieved as they knew that reinforcement must have arrived.

They looked in the direction that the attack had come. There was a group of people wearing armor and all. They also recognized the symbol on their armor. It had the symbol of the La-Minnings family.

"ADELINE!"

Christian shouted as he quickly made his way toward Adeline. He checked her body and was relieved to see that she was alive.

His men also followed him.

"Sir Christian thanks for your timely support!"

Zain said. He had lost all hope when even Adeline had been beaten. Thankfully, La-Minings had arrived to help them. However, Zain was surprised to think that they had the firepower to even stop Rank-S Devil Contractor.

As far as he knows about La-Minings, while they had money, they didn't have many strong people on their side. One of the reasons for them wanting to form a connection with the Church is to use their connection to get strong people to join them.

Nevertheless, they were thankful that they had someone who could actually contend with the Rank-S Devil Contractor.

"No need! It is not me but that gentleman you should thank!"

Zain turned to the man that Christian had pointed at. Although Zain felt some kind of familiarity with him, he could not remember who he was.

However, it was different for Saintess Amelia. She clearly knew who he was. And she could not believe that she just got saved by him.